This also could just be a test sample that's in the system. There are a few test codes for antiviruses and these companies may be using these as test binaries.
AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#12I remember when MingW or Cygwin users were complaining that AVs were detecting "Hello world" binaries as malware too.
IMHO AVs started becoming anti-user when they began detecting "hacking tools" and keygens/cracks/patches (there are certainly some which do have malware, but detecting software that does exactly what it claims to do is going beyond that.) That's acting in the interests of corporations, not users. It's rather authoritarian and I don't want that at all.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#13Had this same issue some 5 years ago on an old system. More comprehensive answer here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7987712/why-does-avganti...
I'm sorry, but the quality of comments on that question is really low, apart from one. A malicious compiler can easily insert malicious code into you executable, and if you are not able to trust your compiler or read the code it generates, then you would be better off relying on the antivirus. Then again, with the prevailing mentality of most Windows users of installing packages from untrusted sources and running unk…
How many malicious compilers have you actually seen in the wild (in 2012, when that post was written)? And indeed if there were any, why would an AV not just detect the compiler itself?
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry, but the quality of comments on that question is really low, apart from one. A malicious compiler can easily insert malicious code into you executable, and if you are not able to trust your compiler or read the code it generates, then you would be better off relying on the antivirus. Then again, with the prevailing mentality of most Windows users of installing packages from untrusted sources and running unk…
How many malicious compilers have you actually seen in the wild (in 2012, when that post was written)? And indeed if there were any, why would an AV not just detect the compiler itself?
> why would an AV not just detect the compiler itself?
Because then users of a binary need to trust that the compiler-user had an AV installed.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#15In my experience it is not enough to disable third party Antivirus - it has to be completely uninstalled. At least one major AV (can't remember which) still leaves its TCP/IP hooks in the kernel even when disabled making network traffic several times slower. Customers are aghast at the suggestion that AV is the problem - surely you are the one with the bad code. They think AV couldn't possibly slow all disk and net accesses by an order of magnitude.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#16I remember when MingW or Cygwin users were complaining that AVs were detecting "Hello world" binaries as malware too. IMHO AVs started becoming anti-user when they began detecting "hacking tools" and keygens/cracks/patches (there are certainly some which do have malware, but detecting software that does exactly what it claims to do is going beyond that.) That's acting in the interests of corporations, not users. It's…
They kinda had to, because of the rising popularity of Spybot and Malwarebytes.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#17I remember when MingW or Cygwin users were complaining that AVs were detecting "Hello world" binaries as malware too. IMHO AVs started becoming anti-user when they began detecting "hacking tools" and keygens/cracks/patches (there are certainly some which do have malware, but detecting software that does exactly what it claims to do is going beyond that.) That's acting in the interests of corporations, not users. It's…
I don't believe that the average user's computer should have hacking tools on it.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#18I remember when MingW or Cygwin users were complaining that AVs were detecting "Hello world" binaries as malware too. IMHO AVs started becoming anti-user when they began detecting "hacking tools" and keygens/cracks/patches (there are certainly some which do have malware, but detecting software that does exactly what it claims to do is going beyond that.) That's acting in the interests of corporations, not users. It's…
I don't believe that the average user's computer should have hacking tools on it.
Irrelevant. The purpose of an antivirus is not to make a user conform to an average user, its to detect unwanted software. If the user obtains a keygen for some software, what business does an antivirus have with it?
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#19I stopped using automatic anti-viruses. SPECIALLY AVG and Avast. Last time I tried to use them, they immediately deleted without asking if I allowed it, 80% of my tools and binaries. It is clear that anti-viruses on Windows are usually more dangerous than the viruses themselves. (in the end, the virus I wanted to track down, was in my router, not on Windows :/)
> It is clear that anti-viruses on Windows are usually more dangerous than the viruses themselves
This is especially true regarding the bad track record of antivirus software w.r.t vulnerabilities, allowing an attacker to elevate its privileges.
Re: AVG says my programs are viruses (2012)
#20I stopped using automatic anti-viruses. SPECIALLY AVG and Avast. Last time I tried to use them, they immediately deleted without asking if I allowed it, 80% of my tools and binaries. It is clear that anti-viruses on Windows are usually more dangerous than the viruses themselves. (in the end, the virus I wanted to track down, was in my router, not on Windows :/)
I've been using Microsoft's free anti-virus products on my Windows machines since Microsoft first started offering them. Third party anti-virus shares many of the features of malware: difficult to remove; runs at root level; user tracking; self-updating; and in subscription versions comes with the proposition of pay up or we will make your computer vulnerable.
On the other hand, Microsoft's interests are less misaligned with mine. They want to keep Windows secure as do I. Around the edges of tracking and telemetry, we may disagree. Anyway, my life became much simpler when I adopted Microsoft's solution for my Windows boxes.